Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) are a major patient safety and hospital problem, frequently associated with surgical sites and invasive devices, such as vascular access lines, urinary catheters, patient skin preparation prior to surgery, and ventilators. Accordingly, antiseptic, antibacterial and antimicrobial agents are commonly applied to various surfaces in preparation for sterile or antiseptic procedures. For example, a common pre-operative procedure in the medical industry involves rubbing alcohol, iodine, peroxide or chlorhexidine on a skin surface to kill bacteria and thus reduce the chance of infection. Other common practices include wiping down a chair or table surface with an antiseptic agent prior to exposing a patient or instruments to the surface. Other common uses of antiseptics is in the treatment of various injuries, such as cuts and abrasions.
Typically, an applicator, such as a cotton swab, a swab stick, a foam sponge pad, or a towelette, is soaked with an antiseptic that must be poured from a bottle or other container. This step requires that the user remove the lid of the container and the foil seal to access the antiseptic. In an emergency situation, or in a situation where one of the user's hands is occupied, the user is required to free both hands to access the antiseptic agent. Furthermore, once the bottle or other container is opened, the sterility of the bottle is compromised often resulting in excess waste of otherwise useful antiseptic agent. Alternatively, there are also concerns about the degradation or evaporation of active ingredients in the antiseptic solution in bulk.
Following these steps, the antiseptic is commonly poured into an open, secondary container which provides a pool into which the applicator is dipped or soaked. The open, secondary container may include a dish or small bowl having a large opening through which the applicator is passed. In an emergency situation the user must take caution to prevent bumping or disturbing the secondary container so as to prevent a spill of the antiseptic. In the event that the antiseptic agent is spilled, additional antiseptic must be provided thereby requiring the user to once again access the container or bottle of antiseptic.
In other procedures, an antiseptic agent is applied directly to a surface from the bottle or other container, and is then spread and applied with the applicator. During these procedures, the user must take precautions to control the amount of antiseptic used so as to contain the antiseptic and avoid wasting materials.
For some procedures, a portion of the applicator that contacts the desired surface is held directly in the hand of the user. For example, where the applicator is a wipe or towelette and the surface is a tabletop, the user generally holds the wipe in their hand and rubs the surface with the wipe. The proximity of the user's hand to the table surface presents the danger of contaminating the newly sanitized surface with the user's hand. While the user may choose to wear protective gloves or wash their hands prior to applying the antiseptic, in an emergency situation the user may not have sufficient time to take the necessary precautions.
By way of another example, swab applicators or swab sticks are commonly provided as dry devices containing no antiseptic solution. They are provided in individual or bulk packing containing, for example, one, three, ten, fifty, or a hundred units. Swab sticks are typically used by either dip-soaking the stick in a bulk bottle of antiseptic or applying antiseptic onto a patient's skin first and then using the swab stick to spread the antiseptic. Beyond the challenges already discussed above, the bulk packaging of swab sticks may result in contamination to unused swab sticks every time the common container is accessed. Moreover, even where swab sticks are pre-soaked with antiseptic, the amount cannot be controlled, there are concerns about degradation or effectiveness loss of antiseptics due to prolonged contact between the antiseptics and the material of the applicator pad, and the antiseptics often cover the entire swab stick thereby coming in unwanted contact with the user during use of the swab stick.
Thus, while techniques currently exist that are used for applying an antiseptic agent to a desired surface, challenges still exist. Accordingly, it would be an improvement in the art to augment or even replace current techniques with other techniques.